What I Did At Lunch

[pyat]

commanderteddog took advantage of the sunny warm weather (the sun always shines on Obamaday!) to explore some nooks and crannies downtown, and photograph them.


Our primary destination was the old Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce Building. It is a huge old structure, festooned with carved heads and idols, representing progress and industry and empire. It was the tallest skyscraper in the world, outside of Manhattan and Chicago. Once, there was a big public viewing area on the 32nd floor. We wanted to get to it...



Big Ol' Noggins. Like alsowhite said, "Ya gotta love any excursion that includes a giant head."


The front lobby. Left and right are elevators with engraved brass doors. We rode up to the highest floor we could (30th), but there no longer appears to be access to the public gallery.


Looking up.


Through the doors is the bank branch proper, lined with larger-than-life portraits of old bank governors, mostly constipated old men with mutton-chop whiskers and high-collars. The vaulted ceiling is quite beautiful.


Ceiling detail.

Following this, we went for a general ramble.


Candid shot of commanderteddog taken from 200 feet away, across a busy street. 10x zoom and image stabilization for the win!


It was a bit misty toward the lake. Condos going up by the Post Office.


Super-secret banquet hall on the top floor of the Hudson's Bay Company. We just kept going up and up and up and up... and then commanderteddog realized she'd been here before, as a child.

Oh, sassy_fae, their decorations this year are Fairy themed!


The Eaton's Centre, from the south entrance.

And then we walked back!

Comments

[waiwode.livejournal.com]

I prefer the squat, oppressive majesty of Montreal's Sun Life Bldg, in 1914 the tallest building in all the globe-spanning Commonwealth!



And if that doesn't get an "I say, old bean!" out of you, nothing will!

Doug.

[pyat.livejournal.com]

"Je dis, le vieil haricot!"

[thebitterguy]

I don't know if I mentioned this before, but you should see if Torontoist.com wants to publish your Overdrawn at the Memory Bank excursion.

[pyat.livejournal.com]

That's a good idea, actually. I was also thinking of re-enacting one of the lines from the movie, and uploading it to Youtube as a response to the scene from the film...

[madmanofprague.livejournal.com]

Hey, that's the perfect reference photo for my project. Thanks!

[pyat.livejournal.com]

You're welcome!

Which one?

[madmanofprague.livejournal.com]

The Eaton's centre one.

[relee.livejournal.com]

Huh, I wonder why they spelled providence wrong.

[anidada.livejournal.com]

Because it's Prudence? :)

[relee.livejournal.com]

HAH! That just goes to show how important individual letters are to understanding the greater word. I saw a V and assumed they spelled the word wrong, the idea that they wrote the letter wrong didn't even occur to me. XD

[kfops.livejournal.com]

I'd like to see a bowl of soup the size of those heads!

[pyat.livejournal.com]

That'd be more of a cauldron, really... or a house...

[paka.livejournal.com]

I wanna live in your hometown. It's nice to see someone so in love with where they live; I haven't felt that way for a long time.

[pyat.livejournal.com]

No, no. This is Toronto. I live an hour away, in Hamilton. Which I also love. :) And I'm going to do photos about as soon as I have a free afternoon!